WTF

Turn based Strategy (heroes, disciples, some aspects of total war though i see that TStrat RTS hybrid), RPGs (Japanese, western don't care really so long as the gameplay is enjoyable), SRPGs, Action titles, RTS, micromanagement simulators such as MOO

Well I knew you'd disagree but there's a clear difference here. With a book, you don't have the voices, you don't have the images most of the direction is done in your head. You imagine the setting. One person's interpretation of a book is entirely different from another person's interpretation. This is easily witnessed when you take a book and make it into a game or a film. It's because the source material is adapted. In films you have devices via editing that enable you to evoke the emotion such as showing someone on a bed and then showing a withered tree or flower and you know the person is sick. This is association which basically stems from semiotics. This semiotics was in fact why RE5 was perceived to be racist in the west when Japan didn't quite view it as so. With a game especially a linear narrative without cut-scenes we are pretty much driven through an even more linear experience than what was designed. A film is less free than books and music and a game is even more so that a film. Not to mention interactivity plays key here. You're taking individual controlled interaction and equating it with uncontrolled interaction in a game. Gamers don't like their hands to be held and need more freedom usually. When given that freedom, the experience changes depending on the individual but at the same time it's not quite so like a book. Do you follow that statement? A good example would be enslaved - a game that people said had good visuals but was mostly derided by most gamers for not having good gameplay and hand-holding far too often (not to mention to be fair it wasn't a good adaptation of journey to the west). A game can't work that way but everything about the world in a game is already there like in a film. The only interaction one has is the gameplay but that's the one that gives the most freedom and makes it competitive and in that way it becomes similar to sports because gameplay like sports is defined by a concrete set of rules. There are 6 billion people out there in the world. Games are still niche outside of puzzles and casual games which are derided by the same gamers who want to keep it niche. I mean a when game makes a billion it is because it's quite expensive when compared to the price of a ticket (though we know that going to the cinema is costly to the individual a film doesn't make money off of popcorn and drinks sold). How many people would have seen a popular film and how many people would have played a popular game? I believe the numbers don't overlap as much one would assume. We're seeing it far too much from the western viewpoint. But the world isn't the west. 1/3rd of the world's population is India and China. Games that are definitely not more popular than movies in those parts and it isn't going to change soon. Yes casual games will be popular but proper games not as much. There's a lot of issues to consider here. 1) Global reach. 2)Skewed perspective because most people who write and comment on sites and blogs are actually seeing it from the Western perspective. Yes even art has a limited audience but the audience that appreciates art generally transcends borders. Games are less so. I mean it's clear your mind is set into believing that games should be art. But it's not the most important function a game serves. Films evolved via art, the evolution of games as art can't be compared because games didn't evolve via art but rather via software and hardware. If the games and films industry actually realise this it would be better. Games are trying too hard to emulate what works for films and losing it's own identity. Not that games can't be art. Just games can't be art right now because of the audience because of what people in the industry want from games and because it is an enthusiast hobby that likes to appeal to it's own niche crowd (who don't seem to like it appealing universally - which is more to do with agegroup). When people bring games like Flower and say they're arty isn't it the exception rather than the rule? In terms of film art films, pulp, commercial and all kinds stand side by side. Games don't do that yet mostly because there's fewer auteurs, games did not have a chance to mature (it's too soon), gamers didn't mature well enough (If they did we wouldn't just be churning out sequels year after year). At least with most films there's a longer break. Games need that break too. I do understand that people are impatient. People were impatient that GRR Martin took so long to write each volume of ASOIF but it works better that way. Games however rarely get that break because it's a tech oriented industry and people want to capitalise on R&D and current tech before it becomes obsolete. Something none of the other industries have to deal with as often. Well software does but it's rare when people call general software art. I think you're equating Ballroom dance as a sport when it's not really a sport in the traditional usage of the word. Granted that sport comes from leisure and sport refers to recreational activity. But it isn't a competitive sport in the general sense of the word until recently. I mean by that definition you can make a sport out of everything including games, debating, writing, etc. For an art to become a sport and for a sport to become an art there are differences. Sport becomes an art when it breaks rules and invents new ones, and art becomes a sport only when it follows strict rules which then breaks the freedom of the art. It's a complex thing when you sit down and think about it. The biggest issue with calling games as art so soon is that games just came barely came out of it's crawling stages and we want games to fly like an eagle. Walk a bit first, experience the ground and what it feels to stand on 2 or 4 feet. It's because of the way the industry wants to grow, independent developers and artists who get into the industry can change it. TGC is an example of people from different aesthetics coming together to make something different. Developers from the early era too were similar but now it's far more tech specialised. It's not going to change so long as it is tech oriented. Two things that will hold it back are being too tech oriented+futureproofing and following a model that clearly isn't working great for films in the modern era. Vertical Integration is a bad thing and the sooner they get out of that the better. Of course it does mean certain people will lose jobs but it's worth it in the long term. Also the biggest thing is everyone who speaks for games to be art is either a gamer or most likely someone who works in the industry. Let people outside of gaming start calling it art. Give them a chance. People who work in an industry will obviously have some bias that helps their cause. Things got better recognised as art when the public start to appreciate the value. Right now it isn't quite that. edited for coherence.

It's too early to release the review to the public since the RoW gets it before the US (We get it on April 15th and they get it on July 15th). And yeah the movie is pretty decent, some of the songs need work but that could be our nostalgia playing tricks. But yeah the review crowd here has seen it already. I think the review should be up by Wednesday.

These were the special editions for the PSP, the twisted edition for third birthday and the limited edition for Tactics ogre. I could've bought the digital ones for NGP compatibility but these were cheaper and had extra stuff which is what I was really looking for . The first run for tactics ogre, ff4 complete collection, lords of arcana and third birthday are the limited editions. It's an EU/PAL exclusive. Also Dean, no it doesn't have more than one disc. I mean come on all of those games can fit on one disc and they do . (Since they were all CD based games during release). It's just when Eidos used to release games prior to acquisition they used to release them in bigger boxes. There's something about triple releases supposed to have a bigger box even if it contains only one disc.

Publisher: NiSA (for PAL and NA territories). Developer: Gust Official Site: ENG Reviews: Worthplaying 8 GamesRadar 7 RPGamer 7 Playstation Lifestyle7 Release Dates JP 28th January 2010 NA 16th March 2011 PAL 1st April 2011 Screenshots: Game Includes: Soundtrack and ArtBook for PAL regions Those plus Calendar and another art book for the special edition first release for NA. Personal Notes: The game is chock full of innuendos, so if you are playing this it pretty much depends on how dirty your mind really is. The game does involve certain characters, Reyvateils, stripping when they go into song mode and the innuendos pretty much come from having to delve inside their heads sort of Simulacra/Matrix style and they say stuff like you need to go deeper which in the right context isn't pervy but of course everyone finds it uncomfortable for the most part because most people have a dirty mind. I mean a kid who plays this game isn't going to get that, though they'll see the stripping. The game isn't as weird as things like Agarest and the environments are quite pretty which is to be expected from Gust games. The Atelier series pretty much has art like an old European/UK fairy tale book and is quite pretty and girly in that way. This game is pretty similar in terms of IQ, though it's obvious they optimised it for 720p and thus lacks the crispness as in Rorona. The game is also quite positive in a way and it's not bad once you overlook those bits of weirdness. Much better than most jRPGs that have been out recently. It's also quite welcoming to new players. There's also DLC available for this game which I believe should be sizeable. It's non-voiced DLC that adds on to the 40hr or so game and is roughly about 700MB (you can try the first part of it for free and if you enjoy that I'd suggest getting all 5 since that saves money). It's very different to Neptunia in that it's actually not a chore to play and doesn't resort to the same tactics to keep you invested (also not the same type of DLC). There is humour in the game, and with a few exceptions it's not badly voiced and the story so far seems to be pretty ok. I wouldn't say it's the all time best, but it does seem to avoid only relying on tropes entirely and tries to carve a spot for itself. If you do play RPGs from Japan though I'll definitely recommend this. I'll write a review when I've finished the game. If anyone wants a review of Tactics Ogre or Third Birthday I can do that as well when I'm done (but that might take a while since I'm busy and don't know when I can finish any of these games...).

I get the vague feeling that we'll not see Xenoblade in the US, and we'll not see Last Story in the EU. It's Nintendo they are really odd with their releases and we all are pretty aware of it now. It's a bit too early to say anything about NoA, they've yet to do something including change the title from Monado to something Xenoblade related. However certain sources tell me that Xenoblade is set for a Summer release here.

Too many crap movies to list. I honestly have to watch crap movies and sometimes have to tell them that it was uh okay. Some people have absolutely no talent in making a script come to life. Be fortunate you don't have to see a lot of shitty movies The last crap movie I've seen was a Spanish movie that's not release for public consumption yet. Can't say what it is (NDA) but jeez.... I really hope they re-edit it or reshoot some of the stuff since it's not locked yet.

It was 17.99 on Game and Amazon (might still be at Amazon since they like to price match). If you've waited this long though I'd suggest waiting a bit more for a drop to 13.99 which will happen soonish . P.S. For today only you can get the DoW2 expansion chaos rising for £4.99 (which would help those who have just the first game only) AvP for the PC is £2.99 as well. Both at play.com Peacewalker is now 9.85 at zavvi as well. As is deadly premonition - which you should really get especially if you enjoyed stuff like twin peaks.

The title's fine in my eyes as well. I mean there have been worse names for games ranging from infinite undiscovery to pro evolution soccer (winning 11 is much better imo, since that makes sense.) I'd say don't judge the game from the minimalist approach. If you've watched the previews you must have noticed that the world isn't entirely a minimal world. They've gone for a lack of HUD which they probably should have in Okami. However it's the Okami, DMC and Viewtiful Joe etc part of Clover that's working on it sans of course the leads from the latter two titles. Most of Okami's original team from Clover is working on the game which explains the art style. There's plenty of Brechtian elements used here particularly because of Luciphel. Firstly we have the Verfremdungseffekt or the estrangement effect brought forth by continual Luciphel narrative where he pretty much talks to Enoch and the audience and puts us at a distance from the story and lets us observe this tale as a neutral observer even if one was heavily into Bible Studies. It's particularly used with the usual breaking of the fourth wall as well as time travel. Giving the character jeans (which are also sold in the real world and sold out), using time travel and thus having cell phones and the like. The game isn't trying to get us to have an emotional connection but wants us to observe the events as a neutral observer and then comment on the actions. It might have to do mostly with Japanese interpretations of Abrahamic lore really. But the implementation of this story is definitely not trying to give you an emotional engagement but can be said to be more like Sartre's No Exit to some extent. Not to mention the game has an interesting representation of reality when it tells us that where Enoch goes is Earth but before God punishes the people. Also this is different to what sort of interpretation the west would have of this myth which would mostly have Greco-Roman overtones.

I think we need to stop having a discussion on whether games should be art or not till the gaming crowd as well as the industry matures. The reason why games aren't really considered art today has less to do with content but more to do with the attitude of those who enjoy the content and those who create the content. Gamers are the ones who create the core, casual, etc division. Gamers are the ones who want to celebrate gaming as niche and want games to be less accessible to the public. Gaming is an enthusiast hobby. You have to compare the gaming crowd as the general sports crowd. Do we really treat sports as art? A general answer would be no. Can sport be an art? Yes it can. Games are quite similar to sports in that sense and very much so. Mostly because most games just like sports bring out the competitive side. It's not that music, film, traditional art and the like can't be competitive. It's that games and sports thrive on competition and interaction. As a result, tribalism sets in quite clearly in this. Why have sports which have existed for millenia not been treated as art? Because of what the crowd is like, what the training is like, what the experience is like. Are there sports for everyone - that one and all can play? There are. But what do you consider to be core sports are far different from that and are not inclusive. Gaming pretty much is quite similar right now. I'm not saying that video games can't or won't mature. But as a whole games won't be treated as art. We will treat certain aspects of games as art and perhaps certain games as art. But the whole of gaming will not find a spot in the art world easily just like sports doesn't. Human interaction, tribalism, competitiveness and a few other things are key to this. It is easier for an observational activity to become art more than for a non-observational one. Gaming however can evolve into a better craft - that is something we can aspire for it to become. In that process it could move away from the things that make it similar to sports and become an art.

OK technically not all of these are games, but there's more games than non-games for it to go in the non-gaming section. Deleted earlier post since I got most of this stuff during this week and it arrived not on the day I'd posted. In the Image: Gaming-wise: Ar Tonelico Qoga. Yakuza 4 (saturday) Tactics Ogre: LuCT The Third Birthday 2100 MSP Thief Complete Collection (I wish they released it by DD - but this was just £2 and that was hard to pass by since I don't own the whole lot anymore). Artbook for Ar Tonelico Non-Gaming Muji Notebook since I still write and draw while on the move and I actually jot down ideas on pencil (I prefer that to pens especially on the move - not to mention the sound and feel of pencil on paper is more appealing to me personally than a pen. I use fountain pens or if I use ballpoint pens it's those with gel ink) Muji purse as a DSi+games carry case for my wife. Game of Thrones (since I don't quite remember it anymore and I wanted to buy the non Sean Bean edition since I hate buying a tie-in book because of the art). Outside of the image PSN cards which have been recycled and used. Non-gaming items that I'm not taking pictures of, like lenses and shit . Lots of work related items too. X-Men Arcade (buy it on live for 200pts today since it's really cheap) Kingdom for Kelflings Raskulls Might get Comic Jumper (if my wife really likes it) Shogun:Total War (Saturday again) Ar Tonelico DLC AC:Bro Hood Da Vinci DLC Meh I've spent a lot on games these past 10 days. But since I didn't get the 3DS it's still a bargain in a way. edit: I can't help but feel that I've forgotten somethings... OK this is bad since my dad's a CA and I'm usually good at accounting for everything I got. Must be tired...

Congratulations. I know the feeling. I bought a Samsung 24in back in 2008 and it's pretty much ideal for PC gaming purposes. But Asus monitors are really good for grading. I've got one that I exclusively use for that purpose .

More cat pictures from a few days ago

Since there are video limits per post and I might want to add more videos to the OP later. I'll post the new trailer for a feature in the game here

Pretty much this. Even if NoA doesn't announce it, you can softmod and play. Or you can import the game and if you've a pretty decent setup can run it on Dolphin at a much better res than you'd get on the Wii. You are buying the game and thus not pirating, you're playing it on the PC via emulators simply because it's not released in your region and you wouldn't like to softmod your machine. So you don't have to worry about morality . Also there is a likelihood that this might not get released. The previous game from Monolithsoft, Disaster:Day of Crisis (which is a really fun game that I'd recommend JP and PAL players to play) did not make it to the US, because of some dubbing issues that NoA wanted to fix that Monolithsoft didn't want to (despite them at the time being Nintendo owned).. Other first party games that never made it to the US include besides the titles you mentioned - Another Code:R. While EU didn't get Trauma Team (sales were the reason). Third Party Nintendo games are the only real issue for PAL since not many pubs want to pick them up.

Like I'd said I only share with my wife for practical reasons. My brother has his own steam account and games and I send him games now and then as a gift (or buy retail codes and send him) but in my house, my wife doesn't use anything really powerful and I don't really use steam on my Mac often. So it's just her laptop, the common desktop and my machines. Since I pretty much manage the network in my house and we're still at a no kids stage (and it'll be a while before I let them play unsupervised ) that's not really a concern at this point. My father doesn't really play PC games much these days outside of puzzle games and all he'd really need is a PS3 and GT5 and he's pretty much satisfied.

Since the new spider-man game is a go and it's amazing and 2099 I'm guessing NPH and Radioactive Spider-Blood (90s cartoon intro reference) guy will be returning for that later this year.

It's been on cable like last year, the same time as the US (just 2 days apart really) on FX and they've been showing reruns of the show quite a lot too. Unless of course it's coming to Freeview channels but I'll have to check on that. I think FX (or rather Fox) have it on lockdown for exclusivity for 2 seasons here.

I wondered the same, Hence the use of the not sure if serious image. I think the joker meme is a bit overused for now

Digital Games being priced more than the physical is pretty much upto the publisher. Most companies prefer to keep the retailers happy at the cost of digital consumers since they part-pay/take care of advertising and marketing and thus help regular people be more aware of the game. Once physical retailers relent we'll see prices change. Of course that could take time (or if HMV's current indication is anything can happen sooner than we think). As for the group thing, you really need to have a group of people you'd trust to get it to work. I've been involved in some good ones and some bad ones. But currently I'm not involved in any. Some can be shady but it depends on the people and if you've been friends with them for a long time you can judge their character though sometimes people are shady. It depends, but if you have one reliable person then it'll be nice. There are a few such folks really and it really depends on the community . I know some communities are good with it. Also it's better to deal with things like that through a forum rather than through steamchat since for some reason people seem to only remember their words are recorded on a forum even though they can be and are in most cases in a chatroom.

Think this was known to most the week of it's release but the beta drivers do have other issues :/ (since it's BETA of course). I mean if DA2 were my only thing I'd stick with it

Publisher: Nintendo (of Europe only currently) Developer: Monolithsoft Website: Xenoblade Chronicles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBAz4Twd40w Key People involved: Tetsuya Takahashi Music Yoko Shimamura (SF2, KH, Vs13,etc) Yasunori Mitsuda Manami Kiyota ACE+ Release Date: Later in 2011 p.s. this is just a brief post. I'll update with more details when I have time